Leda Cosmides
Encyclopedia
Leda Cosmides, is an American psychologist, who, together with anthropologist husband John Tooby
, helped develop the field of evolutionary psychology
.
Cosmides originally studied biology at Harvard University
, receiving her A.B.
in 1979. While an undergraduate she was influenced by the renowned evolutionary biologist Robert L. Trivers who was her advisor. In 1985, Cosmides received a Ph.D in cognitive psychology
from Harvard and, after completing postdoctoral work under Roger Shepard
at Stanford University
, joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara
in 1991, becoming a full professor in 2000.
In 1992, together with John Tooby
and Jerome Barkow, Cosmides edited The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture
. She and Tooby also co-founded and co-direct the Center for Evolutionary Psychology
.
Cosmides was awarded the 1988 American Association for the Advancement of Science Prize for Behavioral Science Research, the 1993 American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology, a Guggenheim Fellowship
and the 2005 National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award
.
Papers
Articles and interviews
Media
John Tooby
John Tooby is an American anthropologist, who, together with psychologist wife Leda Cosmides, helped pioneer the field of evolutionary psychology....
, helped develop the field of evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
.
Cosmides originally studied biology at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, receiving her A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1979. While an undergraduate she was influenced by the renowned evolutionary biologist Robert L. Trivers who was her advisor. In 1985, Cosmides received a Ph.D in cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
from Harvard and, after completing postdoctoral work under Roger Shepard
Roger Shepard
Roger Newland Shepard is a cognitive scientist and author of Toward a Universal Law of Generalization for Psychological Science. He is seen as a father of research on spatial relations....
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
in 1991, becoming a full professor in 2000.
In 1992, together with John Tooby
John Tooby
John Tooby is an American anthropologist, who, together with psychologist wife Leda Cosmides, helped pioneer the field of evolutionary psychology....
and Jerome Barkow, Cosmides edited The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture
The Adapted Mind
The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture is an edited volume, first published in 1992 by Oxford University Press, edited by Jerome Barkow, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby...
. She and Tooby also co-founded and co-direct the Center for Evolutionary Psychology
Center for Evolutionary Psychology
Center for Evolutionary Psychology is a research center co-founded and co-directed by John Tooby and Leda Cosmides and is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara....
.
Cosmides was awarded the 1988 American Association for the Advancement of Science Prize for Behavioral Science Research, the 1993 American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology, a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
and the 2005 National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award
National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award
National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award is a research initiative first announced in 2004 designed to support individual scientists' biomedical research...
.
Selected publications
Books- Barkow, J., Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J., (eds) (1992) The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture (New York: Oxford University Press).
- Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (2000) Evolutionary psychology: Foundational papers (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).
- Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (in press) Universal Minds: Explaining the new science of evolutionary psychology (Darwinism Today Series) (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson).
Papers
- Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (1987) "From evolution to behavior: Evolutionary psychology as the missing link" in J. Dupre (ed.), The latest on the best: Essays on evolution and optimality (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press).
- Cosmides, L. (1989) "The logic of social exchange: Has natural selection shaped how humans reason? Studies with the Wason selection task," Cognition, 31, 187-276.
- Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (1992) "Cognitive adaptations for social exchange," in Barkow, J., Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J., (eds) (1992) The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture (New York: Oxford University Press).
- Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (2003) "Evolutionary psychology: Theoretical Foundations," in Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (London: Macmillan).
- Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (2005) "Evolutionary psychology: Conceptual foundations," in D. M. Buss (ed.), Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (New York: Wiley).
See also
- Behavioural geneticsBehavioural geneticsQuantitative human behavioural genetics is a specialisation in the biological field of behaviour genetics that studies the role of genetics in human behaviour employing quantitative-genetic methods. The field is an overlap of quantitative genetics and psychology...
- Evolutionary psychologyEvolutionary psychologyEvolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
- Human behavioral ecologyHuman behavioral ecologyHuman behavioral ecology or human evolutionary ecology applies the principles of evolutionary theory and optimization to the study of human behavioral and cultural diversity. HBE examines the adaptive design of traits, behaviors, and life histories of humans in an ecological context...
- Standard social science modelStandard social science modelThe term the Standard Social Science Model was first introduced to a wide audience by John Tooby and Leda Cosmides in the 1992 edited volume The Adapted Mind, to describe the "blank slate," social constructionist,or "cultural determinist" perspective that they claim is the dominant theoretical...
External links
WebsitesArticles and interviews
- "Whole in one" - profile by Kam Patel, Darwin@LSE. (Originally published in The Times Higher Education SupplementThe Times Higher Education SupplementThe Times Higher Education , formerly Times Higher Education Supplement , is a weekly British magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to higher education...
, 4 August 1995). - Interview with Alvaro Fischer and Roberto Araya, published in El MercurioEl MercurioEl Mercurio is a conservative Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's paper-of-record and its Valparaíso edition is the oldest daily in the Spanish language currently in circulation. El Mercurio is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P...
, October 28, 2001. - "Them" - article on Cosmides, Tooby and Kurzban's research into the origin of racism, The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, December 13, 2001.
Media
- "Has Natural Selection Shaped How Humans Reason?" audio of a lecture at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical PhysicsKavli Institute for Theoretical PhysicsThe Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world. KITP programs bring theorists in physics and related fields together to work together on topics at...
, May 20, 1998 (with Tooby). - "Coalitional Psychology and Social Categorization" audio or video of a lecture at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical PhysicsKavli Institute for Theoretical PhysicsThe Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world. KITP programs bring theorists in physics and related fields together to work together on topics at...
, October 29, 2003 (with Tooby). - "Evolution of the Human Mind" radio interview, Philosophy TalkPhilosophy TalkPhilosophy Talk is a talk radio program co-hosted by John Perry and Ken Taylor, who are professors at Stanford University. The show is also available as a podcast, available for purchase. The program deals both with fundamental problems of philosophy and with the works of famous philosophers,...
, May 24, 2005. - "Prospects for a transhuman mind?" radio program, All in the MindAll in the Mind (Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio)All in the Mind is a weekly ABC Radio National program, hosted by Australian science journalist Natasha Mitchell, exploring the mind, brain and behaviour....
, March 10, 2007. Contains a recording of her presentation to the "Challenge of Transhumanism" conference at Arizona State University.